A Summary of the the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
by Lori Gardi
The Four Noble Truths
Buddha was like a
doctor:
1-He identified the disease called suffering.
2-He realized that there was a cause; attachments and delusions.
3-He found a cure.
4-He wrote the prescription; the Eightfold Noble Path.
The Eightfold Noble Path
Right View
To see THINGS as they really are.
To understand the impermanence and imperfection of THINGS.
Right View enhances Right Thought and Right Action.
Right Intention
Intentions control our actions.
One intends before one does.
Right Intention precedes Right Action and Right Speech.
Right Speech
Has to do with ethical conduct;
moral discipline.
Avoid lying.
Avoid gossiping.
Avoid harsh words.
Avoid idle chatter.
In other words, tell the truth, to speak
friendly and gently and to talk only when necessary. In our society, talking is
highly overrated.
They who talk
lots, says nothing. They who talks little, say lots. IMHO
Right Action
Also
has to do with ethical conduct and moral discipline.
Poor
actions lead to poor states of mind (cause delusions).
The principle is
based on abstinence; so it’s more what you don’t do rather than what you do
(do).
Abstain from
doing harm to others intentionally.
Abstain from
dishonesty; stealing and deceiving.
Abstain from
sexual misconduct.
In other words,
act kindly and compassionately, be honest, respect the belongings of others,
and keep sexual relationships harmless to others.
Right Livelihood
The five types of businesses that are harmful to undertake
are:- Business
in weapons: trading in all kinds of weapons
and instruments for killing.
- Business
in human beings: slave trading, prostitution,
or the buying and selling of children or adults.
- Business
in meat: "meat" refers to the bodies
of beings after they are killed. This includes breeding animals for
slaughter.
- Business
in intoxicants: manufacturing or selling
intoxicating drinks or addictive drugs.
- Business in poison: producing or trading in any kind of toxic product designed to kill.
Right Effort
Mental
energy is the force behind right effort.
It
creates wholesome/good and unwholesome/bad states of mind.
Can
fuel desire, envy, aggression, and violence (unwholesome).
Can also fuel
self-discipline, honesty, benevolence, and kindness (wholesome).
Fueling
good mental energy generates wholesome states of mind.
Fueling
poor mental energy generates unwholesome states of mind.
There
four ways to generate Right Effort:
1.
prevent the arising of
unwholesome states,
2.
abandon unwholesome states that
have already arisen,
3.
encourage wholesome states that
have not yet arisen
4.
maintain and perfect wholesome
states already arisen.
PREVENT;
ABANDON, ENCOURAGE, MAINTAIN
In other words,
prevent bad habits from occurring, abandon old bad habits, encourage good
habits, maintain good habits.
Right Mindfulness
Cognition,
controlled thinking, anchored in clear perception.
Being
aware of the process of conceptualization.
To keep the mind properly grounded in the present moment.
What
do we need to be mindful of:
1.
the body
2.
our feelings
3.
our state of mind
4.
other (phenomenon)
Yoga and meditation
are good medicine, helping one to remain mindful along the path.
Right Concentration
To
attain a state where all mental faculties are unified.
To
stop chasing after things or thoughts.
To attain quite or tranquility, so we can “hear the voice of the universe”.
Concentrate
on wholesome thoughts and actions.
Right
Concentration is often referred to as Right Meditation.
Be mindful of the breathing. The breath is a mirror of how we are.
When the mind is scattered and filled with
thoughts, all you see is ordinary reality or relative reality since our
perception of reality is based on information that is subject to
interpretation. When the mind is clear, you see other possible interpretations
of reality. When the mind is no longer torturing you with endless noise called
our thoughts, clear thinking is possible.
The first seven steps in the Eightfold Path
are in preparation for Right Concentration, since, if you defy the other seven,
you would not be able to practice clear mind concentration.
Cultivation of the Eightfold Path leads directly
to Right Knowledge and Right Liberation.
Right Knowledge
Seeing
things as they really are by direct experience.
Deep
insight into the ultimate reality.
Right Liberation
Self-awakening.
A result of
Right Knowledge.
Only through the medicine of the Eightfold
Path, can true Liberation from the disease of suffering be achieved.
References
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/ritepath.pdf
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